Recently in MasterChef Category

The producers of MasterChef USA have found themselves with egg on their faces after it emerged that they used computer trickery to double the crowd at the show's auditions.

In the opening sequence of the cookery show, which is presented by Gordon Ramsay, shots of large crowds were shown with a voiceover saying "thousands upon thousands" of hopefuls had lined up.

But an eagle-eyed viewer has spotted a massive blunder as in the scene several groups of people in the crowd can be seen twice in the line-up. Oops.

Producers have now been forced to apologise for doctoring the shots of crowds. Reveille Productions, who produces the series along with Shine TV, told Entertainment Weekly: "We have reviewed the footage and it's clear that the scene was enhanced in post-production. We sincerely apologise to our viewers and hope that they still enjoyed the show."

Meanwhile, Gordon Ramsay's film debut has been rather poorly received by the critics. The film, Love's Kitchen, which sees the celebrity chef star as himself, has been widely panned by the critics, with the Metro describing it as "deliciously bad"; the Independent calling it "amateurish"; the Guardian labelling it "a grisly, unfunny mess"; and the Daily Mail saying it's a "Kitchen Nightmare".

Probably best if Ramsay sticks to barking orders in the kitchen than making appearances in lame films.

Michel Roux Jr, chef patron of the two-Michelin-starred Le Gavroche and co-presenter of the BBC's MasterChef the Professionals, has become the latest celebrity chef to launch an iPhone application.

Michel Roux Jr, Fine Dining with the Master Chef includes recipes and video masterclasses, wine pairing suggestions, event planning tips and access behind the scenes at his three London restaurants.

The application features 65 classic dishes taken from the menus of Le Gavroche over the past 40 years as well as two step by step video masterclasses and wine pairings from Le Gavroche sommelier David Galetti.

Updated every month, it also offers access to Roux's three London restaurants, Le Gavroche, Roux at Parliament Square and Roux at the Landau, with menus and a booking facility as well as a Day in the Life of documentary behind the scenes of Le Gavroche.

Michel Roux Jr, Fine Dining with the Master Chef is available from iTunes at £4.99.

Liverpool chef Claire Lara has been named the winner of the BBC's Masterchef: The Professionals 2010.

30-year-old Lara, who is the first woman to win the title, was crowned the winner after a gruelling final under the watchful eyes of judges Michel Roux Jr and Gregg Wallace in which she beat fellow competitors David Coulson and John Calton.

The judges praised Lara for her brilliance and consistency throughout the competition. "Claire has an immense amount of talent. Her cooking skills are a revelation," said Roux. "We started this competition looking for a talent and we have uncovered a diamond. She has that exceptional talent that will take her to stardom."

A speechless Lara said: "I am so happy. I thought everyone was pretty good. This is brilliant."

The final of Masterchef: The Professionals comprised a series of tasks, which included a patisserie challenge judged by acclaimed French patissier Pierre Hermé as well as a service at René Redzepi's Noma in Copenhagen, which was this year named the best restaurant in the world.

Another challenge saw the contestants create a three-course menu at a dinner held at London's Pearl restaurant for some of the UK's most acclaimed chefs with more than 40 Michelin stars between them. They included Pierre Koffmann, Alain Roux, Michael Caines, Brett Graham and Phil Howard.

The Masterchef: The Professionals final culminated in a cook off during which the chefs each created a three course meal.

Lara's winning menu comprised a starter of crispy skinned sea trout with apple purée and caper and cider beurre blanc; followed by a main course of roasted boneless pigeon on mashed potato and peas and pancetta with quince jelly and a red wine sauce. Her dessert comprised raspberry and white chocolate millefeuille with lemon thyme discs and raspberries.

The winner and finalists from the BBC's MasterChef competition will cook at a pop up restaurant hosted at D&D London's Meza next month, as part of the London Restaurant Festival.

MasterChef winner Dhruv Baker will be joined by finalists Tim Kinnaird and Alex Rushmer at Soho's Meza during the festival, which runs from 4 to 18 October 2010.

Baker, who will be heading up the kitchen every night with Kinnaird and Rushmer joining him every Thursday, Friday and Saturday, said: "We're so excited that we've got the opportunity to work together again."

D&D London marketing director Simon Willis added: "Nearly seven million people watched Dhruv become this year's MasterChef champion and the three finalists did capture the hearts of food lovers across the country.

"We're delighted to be working with them to provide the platform for their first 'pop up' together and particularly during London Restaurant Festival."

Michel Roux Jnr's new restaurant, Roux at Parliament Square, this week plays host to a rare collection of historical mirrors, worth nearly £1m.

The collection is being displayed at the restaurant to mark the launch of the Mirrors exhibition at the Ronald Phillips Gallery, which runs from 9 to 29 June and showcases 90 English mirrors dating from 1660 to 1820 including a pair of Chippendale ovals and a mirror once owned by former Prime Minister Sir William Gladstone.

Each of the mirrors displayed at Roux at Parliament Square in Westminster will be for sale with price tags ranging from £12,000 to £850,000 and part of the proceeds going to VICTA, a charity supporting blind and partially sighted children.

Simon Phillips, chairman and owner of Ronald Phillips, said: "We wanted to put the mirrors somewhere unexpected in the run up to the exhibition launch - in a place where people could enjoy them as they go about their day to day business."

Michel Roux Jnr added: "These beautiful pieces are hundreds of years old, so it's amazing to think of all the things they may have seen over the years and it's great to see them on show here."    

Roux at Parliament Square is a joint venture between Roux and Compass Group's Restaurant Associates.

Matthew Norman, writing in The Guardian, says that the Crab House Café in Wyke Regis, Dorset, is a great place to eat because it follows the most opaque of formulae. "It takes local ingredients of top quality, cooks them simply and accurately in its open kitchen, and serves them (via friendly teenagers in aprons) without poncery," Norman enthuses.

Another Dorset restaurant, the Wild Garlic in Beaminster, where former MasterChef winner Mat Follas is chef-proprietor, also receives a glowing review. Jasper Gerard of The Daily Telegraph says that if the inhabitants of every country town could enjoy a restaurant like the beaming folks of Beaminster's, we Britons would be happier bunnies. Follas claims to employ three foragers and Gerard finds that, as a result, the food zings with bold flavours.

Meanwhile, Jay Rayner of The Observer finds the experience of eating at Inamo in London's Soho to be fun, but is exasperated by the fact that it has replaced waiters with an interactive ordering service and yet charges prices as high as £16.50 for a quarter of crispy duck. "Surely if you've done away with the grisly business of waiters writing stuff down there must be savings to pass on?" he asks.

Baumann's Brasserie in Coggeshall, Essex, proves to be a welcome stopping off point for Tracey MacLeod of The Independent on Sunday on a delayed journey. Despite finding Mark Baumann, who took over the restaurant from the late Peter Langan of Langan's Brasserie fame, and his kitchen serving food that is a "little over-excitable", she enjoys the general bonhomie of this well-run operation.

Dhruv Baker has been named the winner of the BBC's amateur cooking competition Masterchef.

The 34-year-old Londoner beat follow finalists Alex Rushmer and Tim Kinnaird to the title following an intense cook off.

During the Masterchef series Baker, who described his win as "mind blowing", faced challenges like cooking in the heat of the Indian desert and preparing a meal for celebrated French chef Alain Ducasse.

In the final, Baker and his fellow competitors were asked to create a menu from a box of mystery ingredients. They were then taken to a three-Michelin-starred restaurant in Europe, before cooking their final three-course meal for the judges.

Baker's winning menu consisted of a starter of saffron and ginger poached lobster tail with celeriac purée on blanched fennel with a beurre noisette foam; followed by a main course of venison with a potato brunoise, sugar glazed carrots on a carrot and cumin purée, confit chestnuts and a venison jus. His dessert comprised a trio consisting of poached pear in sauterne and star anise, Marsala ice cream, and a chocolate truffle with a pistachio topping.

Baker credited celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay as his inspiration to take up cooking. "He was so passionate about it and so talented and he was one of the celebrity chefs I first noticed," he said. "I bought all his books. He's gone from that to being a global superstar."

Judge John Torode said Baker had a "talent that very few people will ever have".

Fellow judge Gregg Wallace added: "Dhruv, I've got to say, is probably one of the most amazing talents I've ever seen. He has the palate of an angel."

Baker said he now hopes to open his own restaurant. "I hope that winning Masterchef will allow me to pursue my dreams of a career in food and to continue learning and improving as a cook," he said.

The BBC's MasterChef is set to make the jump across the pond as US TV channel Fox has commissioned an American version of the programme.

Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, who has gained fame for the channel's US versions of Hell's Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares, will front the show and be involved as a producer.

Fox has placed an initial order of between 12 and 15 episodes.

It is the first time the format will be adapted for an American audience and follows an Australian version which premiered earlier this year.

The reality TV show will see hobby chefs from around the country audition for the series by creating a dish for three judges.

"This is a huge, nationwide search for the best amateur cook in America," the executive producer, Howard T Owens of Reveille, told Reuters.

"It's about people who are lawyers, construction workers and stay-at-home mums but whose real passion is to make great food. This is their shot to prove they have what it takes."

Tim Payne, head chef at Paradise by Way of Kensal Green, is leaving the west London restaurant to join forces with Masterchef presenter Gregg Wallace.

Wallace is setting up a greengrocer-cum-café concept in Putney together with former Elbow Room owner Justin Carter. The duo has bought the old Red's site on Upper Richmond Road and will relaunch it as Wallace & Co before Christmas.

Payne is understood to be joining Wallace & Co as executive chef after three years at Paradise.

He was executive chef for Marco Pierre White's restaurants for seven years and appeared alongside the fiery chef in his two series of ITV's Hell's Kitchen.

Payne also did a stint with Planet Hollywood founder Robert Earl and as consultant chef for Oliver Peyton's restaurants.

Wallace & Co will feature a range of branded grocery items as well as fresh fruit and vegetables supplied by Secretts Direct, owned by Wallace and business partner Vernon Mascarenhas.

Paradise is owned by Steven Ball and Riz Shaikh, the team behind other London gastropubs, the Old Queens Head in Islington, Queen Boadicea in Clerkenwell and the Westbury in Kilburn. The duo last month launched restaurant and live music venue the Blues Kitchen in Camden.

Fishy Fishy,  X Factor presenter Dermot O'Leary' s seafood restaurant in Brighton, is eager to please, but needs to try harder, according to the Guardian.

Food critic Matthew Norman says while the restaurant isn't bad or without potential, its cheery amateurism isn't good enough.

"All three starters were poor," Norman says, adding: "The FF fish pie was a miserably under-seasoned, sludgy mess beneath slightly clumpy pastry."

Meanwhile the Sunday Telegraph's Tim Auld is impressed with the Michelin-starred Seaham Hall in County Durham, where Great British Menu winner Kenny Atkinson is the head chef.

"You'd be hard-pushed to eat this well, for so little, in such welcoming surroundings anywhere else in Britain," he says.

The Observer's Jay Rayner says Bjorn van der Horst's Eastside Inn in London has survived the recession because the food is "so damn good", while the Sunday Times' AA Gill feels the food at MasterChef judge John Torode's new restaurant The Luxe is little more than good.

The Times' Giles Coren and the Independent's Tracey MacLeod are both impressed with Mark Hix's latest venture Hix in Soho, with the latter describing it as a great new restaurant that already feels like a copper-bottomed success.